ORDER V. 



H YMENOPTERA. 



TJroceridae — Sirex. 



In a work called "Ephemerides des curieiix de la na- 

 ture,'''' is an observation apparently relative to this family of 

 insects, which, if true, would be very extraordinary indeed. 

 It is there said, that in the town of Czierck and its environs, 

 there were seen in 1679 some unknown winged insects which, 

 with their stings, mortally wounded both men and beasts. 

 They fell abruptly upon men without provocation, and at- 

 tached themselves to the naked parts of the body: the sting 

 was immediately followed by a hard tumor, and if care was 

 not taken of the wound within the first three hours, by hastily 

 extracting the poison from it, the patient died in a few days 

 after. These insects killed five and thirty men in this dio- 

 cese, and a great number of oxen and horses. Toward the 

 end of September, the winds brought some of them into a 

 small town on the confines of Silesia and Poland; but they 

 were so feeble on account of the cold, that they did but little 

 mischief there. Eight days after, they all disappeared. 

 These animals have all of them four wings, six feet, and 

 carry under the belly a long sting provided with a sheath, 

 which opens and separates in two. They make a very sharp 

 noise in attacking men. Some of them are ornamented with 

 yellow circles {Sirex gigai^, or S.fusicoiviis? M. Latreille), 

 and others are similar to them in all respects, but they have 

 tlve back altogether black, and their stings are more venomous 

 (S. spectrum oy juveyicus?). The author of these observa- 

 tions gives an extended desciiption of the species with the 

 yellow circles, which he accompanies with figures, in which 

 the character of Sirex may be clearly distinguished.^ 



1 Cuv. An. King. — Ins., ii. 404. 

 (142) 



